


Whatever Good is Left, Put Your Trust In It

by VeteranKlaus



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Cheating, Doubt, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Gaslighting, Hurt Alec, Hurt/Comfort, Manipulation, Physical Abuse, Smoking, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships, Victim Blaming, non-graphic, not technically blaming but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-07 20:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19857907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeteranKlaus/pseuds/VeteranKlaus
Summary: Getting back on his feet, Alec finds a hopeful relationship with a woman in Broadchurch. When the relationship goes south, Ellie is there to help, even if she doesn't notice it at first.





	Whatever Good is Left, Put Your Trust In It

Ellie thinks it's a good idea at first. So does Alec, although he's more hesitant to do it. Put himself out there. However, Daisy agrees whole heartedly. Alec needs to get out there; find his feet again, and perhaps a good relationship will help him. No stressful case, no threat of approaching death, Sandbrook closed behind him and Daisy living at his house (at least for the foreseeable future); life's calming down, and perhaps a relationship wouldn't be a bad idea. Daisy helps him make dating profiles and he dodges all of Ellie's questions expertly. 

The woman he meets is nice. Lovely, even. Patient and funny and kind and smart; fairly short and very attractive, a woman he would say that is far out of his league. But they get along well and after a few more dates out and around Broadchurch, they make things official.

Daisy likes her, and she likes Daisy. He comes home from working late one night to find the two of them baking together, discussing Ellie's school work, and the scene is so domestic it hurts. It reminds him of when he and Tess got married and when Daisy was born, and it steals his breath for a moment. Then it makes him smile and he thinks that maybe he is ready for this, that maybe he needs this in his life. Daisy smiles at him when he greets the two of them with a hug, and one of them lays a blanket on him when he falls asleep on the couch after eating freshly baked cookies and watching a movie with them both, all the stress of work long forgotten. 

He feels refreshed. A little bit of weight was lifted off his shoulders and he almost looks forwards to each day now. 

Ellie's pleased to see it. He's a stubborn arse, but she thinks that he's already dealt with a lot of stress since he first arrived in Broadchurch. He needs to lighten up and the new woman in his life is able to help with that. Plus, it seems that it's spreading to work; he's more talkative, kinder, more optimistic and less hard on people and himself. It's a welcome change. 

It's hard to notice when exactly it begins to get worse, and Ellie doesn't exactly want to believe it.

She almost laughs when he brings up that they had their first argument.

He looks tired, rubbing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose at his desk, and Ellie raises an eyebrow. "Long night?" She asks. Hardy sighs, shaking his head slightly.

"You could say that," Hardy mutters. Ellie leans forwards, curious, and he gives her an odd look. "There was an argument."

"Oh?" Ellie says. "What about?"

Hardy waves a hand vaguely. "Work," he grunts. Ellie feels a smile spread on her lips when it seems to be nothing serious, and she leans forwards.

"First argument," she says, "isn't that a milestone?" She folds her arms across her chest and laughs lightly. "Stop stressing so much, it's not that bad."

Hardy looks rather unconvinced, but he doesn't mention it again. He leaves to go home early, and Ellie jokingly calls out "good luck" behind him.

One night, Alec invites her over to his house for dinner. Much alike she once had invited him over to meet her family, he returns the favour. Ellie shows up at his door at seven with a bottle of prosecco and some chocolates, and a woman - _the_ woman, the new woman in his life - greets her with a warm smile and a hug.

"I've heard a lot about you," she says. Ellie chuckles softly.

"All good, I hope."

The woman laughs, genuine and infectious. "Oh, you know Alec's a softy deep down, really. Don't tell him I said that, though." She winks at Ellie and Ellie laughs at that, then holds out the gifts she brought. She enthusiastically takes the offered gifts and makes an offhanded comment about Alec not drinking.

"Oh, really?" Ellie hums, standing in the doorway as she watches Alec cooking in the kitchen. In the room next door, the woman sets the table. "Thought you enjoyed a glass of wine."

Alec presses his lips together and looks back down at his hands working on the stove. He shrugs. "'s whatever," he says. "Just not right now, I guess."

Daisy sits at the dining table with them and the three of them work like a dream family. The woman sets the table and pours herself and Ellie a glass of prosecco (then two, then three, then until the bottle is suddenly empty) and Daisy, too, seems to like the woman. The woman regards Daisy like her own child and sees her to bed, and then she tells Alec to stop putting the dishes away, she'll do that, but Ellie needs a lift home after the prosecco. 

Alec takes her home in her own car. Rubbing her hands together as if it'll sober her up a bit, Ellie leans forwards to observe Alec. There'd been a tenseness in his shoulders all night as if he was afraid Ellie and the woman - _his_ woman - wouldn't get along, but at the same time he had looked more relaxed than she had ever seen him before. Dressed only in jeans and a jumper - the woman had to convince him out of his usual clothing choices that was fit for a funeral - and smiling at her, taking her hand over the dinner table, receiving a peck on the forehead before she had seen Daisy to bed, an arm around his side as she took over putting the dishes away; Ellie had never seen him so domestic.

"Thanks for tonight then," she says. Alec's eyes flick over to her for a brief moment and he nods his head in acknowledgement.

"Uh, thanks for comin'," he responds, and Ellie can't help but grin at his awkwardness. Once annoying, now she thinks it might be one of his few endearing, less-annoying qualities.

"She seems really nice. Good for you," Ellie comments then, and she notices the way Alec's lips twitch upwards into a small, genuine smile.

"Aye. She is."

"She and Daisy get on."

"Daisy likes her. She likes Daisy." Alec shrugs. "It's... 's nice." 

"Well, it's about time you got some normality, huh?" Ellie huffs. Alec raises an eyebrow at her but she doesn't expand on that. At her door, she thanks him for inviting him once more and makes him promise that she and the woman have a night together to talk about him, and with a feigned annoyed look Alec promises it. After she's locked the door and safely inside, Alec begins the walk home, her car parked easily in her driveway. 

"It's just one night. You were doing so well, too. One night. You don't even have to drink. If you keep dodging pub nights, everyone's going to start calling you shitface again."

Alec glares at Ellie from his desk, pulling his jacket on and taking his glasses off. "I said no, Miller," he sighs, shaking his head in exasperation. "I need to go home."

"I'll have you home for bedtime," Ellie jokes, and receives another glare.

"Drop it, Miller. I can't." 

"You can."

"I can't. Leave me alone." He makes his way past her, heading to the door, and Ellie hurries after him.

"What are you going to do tonight that's so important?" Ellie asks. Alec spares her a brief glance.

"'m goin' home," Alec huffs. 

"For your missus?"

"We aren't even engaged, Miller," he snaps, but she knows she's right. Ellie holds her hand out expectantly.

"Give me your phone, then." Alec narrows his eyes at her but relents, as if he actually wants to go out with them, actually wants Ellie to do what she is. Ellie takes his phone and scrolls until she finds her number, then phones it.

"What is it?" She answers after two rings, her voice surprisingly sharp.

"Hey, it's Ellie." There's a relieved sigh on the other end of the line. "You wouldn't mind if Alec came to the pub, would you? Whole precinct's going, and he needs to stop being so antisocial."

She chuckles. "Oh, of course not! I'll take Daisy out for dinner, then."

Ellie gives Alec a pointed look. "Cool, cool; thanks. Hopefully I'll see you soon!"

"Oh, we need to have a night together," she agrees with a laugh. "Tell Alec to lighten up a bit, yeah? Bye, Ellie."

She hangs up and then Ellie hands his phone back and gives him a look. "See? She thinks you need to get out more, too. Come on, come on."

With a sigh and a last, conflicted look at his phone, Alec follows Ellie to the pub.

She catches him a few times during the night. Once, he's looking at his phone with a stressed look, his leg bouncing. Then he's relaxing more than she's seen him relax in the past week, looking genuine as he dips into some conversations. He sips some water and disappears outside for ten minutes, smelling suspiciously like tobacco, and he leaves first, but he came nonetheless.

"I thought you stopped smoking."

Alec looks up from where he's lighting a cigarette 'round the back of the precinct, shoulders slumping. "What is it?" He grumbles around the cigarette. He finishes lighting it and takes a deep inhale. 

"Wondered where you kept going," says Ellie. "When did you start again?" 

Alec shrugs, and he looks ashamed. "Go back inside," he tells her gruffly, turning slightly to exhale smoke. She scowls at him, holding her hand out expectantly. Alec glares at it, but there's something in his eyes and he drops the fresh cigarette, crushes it, and hands over the packet and lighter without a word. The action shocks Ellie completely, but she snaps out of it quickly enough to grab his arm before he can walk back into the precinct. He shrugs her off with a sudden force, looking startled, then composes himself to glare at her. Ellie returns the tight look.

"Why d'you start again?" She asks. Alec presses his lips together. He stares at her for several moments before sighing and muttering;

"Relapsed." He shrugs, feigning nonchalance, and Ellie frowns. Alec doesn't expand and stalks back into the precinct. Ellie lingers, watching him walk back inside, and then she throws the cigarettes and lighter into the bin and hurries back inside, but he's already in his office and looking at files. 

Alec and Daisy are out for the night, and Ellie and the woman are in Ellie's house, half way through the second bottle of wine. Cheeks flushed, they laugh over something that Ellie can't remember what was so funny. 

With a sigh, the woman leans back in the chair, carefully nursing a glass of red wine and taking a sip of it. "Oh, you're great, Ellie, I love you," she sighs contently. Ellie snickers, setting her wine down and rubbing her eyes.

"Oh, I've had more than I meant to have," she groans, shaking her head pitifully. The woman barks out a laugh at that, setting a slender hand on Ellie's shoulder. She sits up, then, and decides to leave her wine for now. They talk, and it's quick that the subject turns to Alec. Maybe it's the alcohol that's ruined her filter, or maybe it's just pure good intentions that Ellie mentions it.

"Did you know Alec started smoking again?" She asks, and the woman raises her eyebrows.

"What? No. Again?"

Ellie nods. "He used to, 'parently. Quit. Caught him the other day and I threw it all out."

The woman's face twists into something ugly for a moment, eyes on her wine. "I'll talk to him," she shrugs, and shifts on the seat. "How is he? At work, I mean."

Ellie shrugs this time. "Same old, same old. I think you're good for him. He needs someone normal and," she gestures vaguely, "good, you know?"

The woman smiles at Ellie. "I'm doing my best," she sighs dramatically. "Tryin' to whip him back into shape." She lets out a small laugh and Ellie snorts too. 

"He can be a right git sometimes. Hope he doesn't give you too much trouble," she jokes, and the woman laughs.

"Nothing I can't handle," she responds with a wink. She looks at her watch and sighs, setting her wine down and pulling her phone out. "It's getting late, I ought to get back."

Ellie makes a show of frowning dramatically but nods. The woman calls Alec to pick her up and fifteen minutes later there's a knock at the door. He's still in his work clothes, top few buttons undone. 

"Had fun?" He asks, raising an eyebrow. Ellie snickers, leaning against the wall to see the woman and Alec off. 

"Oh, yeah," she says with a sly grin that makes Alec give her a look. The two women share a knowing laugh and Ellie says their goodbyes. She watches from the window as Alec looks her to the car, a hand on her lower back, and she dances out of his reach and gives him a look, saying something Ellie can't catch from inside. She sees Alec stagger for a moment before composing himself and getting back into his car. Plus, Ellie's rather drunk and it doesn't seem like anything. 

He walks into the precinct with his head low, bowed, and Ellie ducks to catch his eye. He's late, which he never is, and looks dishevelled. When she catch his eye she realises one of them is framed by a black bruise and two scratches along his cheekbone, which is more prominent than it was a couple of weeks ago as if he lost weight that he didn't need to lose. 

"Woah, who did you piss off?" Ellie asks, a little too loudly for it draws everyone's attention right onto Alec and his rather obvious bruise. Alec shoots her a murderous glare, mutters something, and continues towards his office. Nonetheless, Ellie is _worried_ because who would hurt Alec? They're not on a large case at the moment, not had any confrontation, no angry family members or press; there isn't a reason he should be hurt, but he is. 

"What happened?" She asks, and Alec's eyes flit anxiously around at the prying eyes, then at Ellie.

"Leave me alone, Miller," he hisses. He tries to twist his wrist free of her grip, but he's more gentle than Ellie is in the way she holds his wrist. She thinks a bruise peers out beneath his shirt sleeve; a small one, a healing one, an old one. She almost drops his wrist. 

"Who did that?" Ellie inquires, actually concerned. 

"No one," Alec bites, cold and rather murderous. For a moment the two stand there, challenging one another to do something while Ellie tries to think of things that it could have been. 

"Was it her?" She asks, eyebrows furrowing, and Alec yanks his wrist free and takes a step aside. "Did she hit you?" Ellie asks, incredulous, and Alec looks around at everyone else. He grabs Ellie's arm and pulls her quickly into his office, slamming the door pointedly behind them all. The blinds are already down. Ellie hadn't noticed it before, either, but all his personal items are gone; the picture frame with a photo of Daisy in it, another of when Daisy was only a baby, the 'worst cop in Britain' mug Ellie bought him as a joke; it's a sterile, impersonal office now. 

"Can you not learn how to shut your bloody mouth?" Alec hisses, letting go of Ellie (despite grabbing her and bringing her to the office, Ellie notes how he had nonetheless watched the way he touched her as if she expected to hurt her some how.)

"Answer the question," Ellie says. 

"Miller - what? Leave. Nothing happened. What're you playin' at?" 

"Did _you_ hit _her_?" 

Alec's eyes blow wide, shocked that Ellie would even ask, but Ellie's met his girlfriend. She's shorter than herself, let alone Alec who's over six foot, and she cares about him. She seems gentle around him and not as if she would even be physically able to hurt him. Ellie can't stomach the idea of Alec forcing her to hurt him in self defence, either, but it's more likely, isn't it? Alec, stressed from work and quitting smoking again, a prickly person on the best of days. And plus, _men don't get hit_. It's just how it is. 

Ellie's disgusted at herself for thinking that. She's a cop and she knows damn well that that most certainly isn't the case. She knows it from first hand experience. Then again, the case went down in flames years ago because no one believed the man. It's how most people would think.

"God, Ellie, what the - God, _no_. I did not hit her, Miller, what do you _think_ of me?" Alec asks, sounding absolutely horrified. He points to the door and glares at her. "Get out. Now, Miller." When Ellie opens her mouth to say something, Alec cuts her off. " _Now_!"

Ellie presses her lips together, lingering a moment, but she knows it'll do neither of them any good. She leaves. He stays in his office for the entire day. 

A week after the 'incident' as she refers to it as to herself, Ellie finds herself looking after Daisy. Alec and his girlfriend leave for the weekend, something about family in Scotland, and Daisy comes to stay at Ellie's. She's uncharacteristically quiet, playing with her food rather than eating it. Ellie tries to make conversation but Daisy doesn't keep it going at all. Ellie's half way through a mouthful of mashed potatoes when she finally speaks up.

"How's dad at work?" She asks. Ellie raises an eyebrow and hurries to swallow her food down.

"What do you mean?" She asks. Daisy shrugs, toying with her lip. 

"Is he... okay?"

Ellie blinks a few times, thinking carefully. "Should he not be?" She asks in response. Daisy blinks heavily a few times and clears her throat. Ellie doesn't push. 

"They, uh. They've been arguing. A lot," she says, rough and hesitant, as if she isn't really sure whether she should be saying it.

"Who? Alec and his girlfriend?" Ellie asks. Daisy nods.

"Yeah."

"Adults argue, Daisy," Ellie sighs, her voice soft. Daisy shakes her head adamantly.

"Not like that," she says, looking at her plate. "I - I tried talking to dad, but he doesn't, you know, want to tell me about it. But I hear it all; at night, when they think I've gone to sleep. Outside. When I'm doing homework."

Ellie feels bad for how curious she feels. It's Alec's private life and she really shouldn't be getting involved like this; getting all the details from his vulnerable, upset daughter behind his back like some gossiping teenagers. But she really can't stop herself. Not since the little nagging in the back of her head started up a week ago. Daisy doesn't wait for a response.

"It's like... it's like when mum and him started arguing." Daisy's nose wrinkles up at the comparison. "The exact same. He's a pushover. He does whatever she tells him to. You - you know he's on a diet? 'cause she told him to."

Ellie can't help but grimace. She had noticed. She had thought he looked rather unhealthy; he hardly seemed to eat two meals a day before and burned it all off with stress. He looks as skinny and weak as he did in the hospital bed after his surgery, she thinks.

"Daisy... you know your dad. If something's wrong, he'll tell someone." She can't encourage Daisy to think like she is and say more than she has. Daisy doesn't look impressed, fixing her with a sad look.

"He took the blame for Sandbrook and for cheating on mum for years," she states. Ellie can't argue with that and silence settles among them, tense and suffocating.

"I'll talk to him," she promises with a heavy sigh. Daisy brightens slightly.

"Please," she says. "He won't listen to me."

Ellie stands up. She needs more tea. She sets a hand on Daisy's shoulder and offers her a rather forced smile. "Don't worry. Eat your dinner, and we can go for a walk to the beach, yeah?"

Daisy isn't satisfied, still plenty of weight on her chest and shoulders, but she nods nonetheless.

"Thanks for looking after Daisy," the woman smiles. "Your dad's just in the car," she directs that to Daisy, and Ellie looks towards the car. Sure enough, Alec's sitting in the drivers seat and looking straight ahead rather than at them, and not even getting out of the car. Daisy picks up her bag and gives Ellie a pointed look that makes her tense slightly, but she nods.

"Go see him," she says, and Daisy leaves after saying thank you. 

"We do appreciate you looking after her," the woman sighs. "We've just been so busy lately."

Ellie raises an eyebrow. "Really? How come?"

The woman gestures vaguely. "Family stuff, mostly. You know how he can be," she says. Ellie just nods stiffly and the woman takes it as her cue to leave. She thanks her once more and then gets into the car. After a moment in which Ellie catches Alec's eye through the car window, the car pulls away. He looked tired. 

He had been avoiding her since their confrontation in the precinct, so it's a surprise when she asks him to go for a walk after work and he accepts. She's glad he does. There's a new scratch on his other cheek that wasn't there yesterday morning and Ellie suspects she'd find more if he ever wore short sleeves. 

It's dark out, street lights flickering, and they walk along the cliffs slowly. For a long while, neither of them talk. Not until they finish walking over the cliffs and end up on the beach below, waves crashing just a few metres to their side. 

"I didn't expect you to actually come," she admits. Alec's hardly looked at her since they left the precinct. He shrugs and still doesn't look at her, as if he can't bring himself to care enough. Ellie continues. "I wanted to talk. I, um. I'm sorry about the... incident, the other day," she says awkwardly. "I shouldn't have said that."

"Aye," he finally speaks up, "you shouldn't have." His hand twitches and curls reflexively into a fist by his side. "I don't know what kind of man you think I am, Miller, but I am not that kind of man."

"I know you're not," Ellie responds. "I spoke to Daisy. She's worried for you."

Alec looks down briefly at his feet and then tips his head up to watch the moon hide behind a cloud. 

"Is she that kind of woman?" Ellie asks. There's no real way to go about this, she decides, and it's been too long, especially if it turns out to be true. She can't help but feel like a bad person; if it is true, then she essentially accused him of being the bad one in the relationship. She agreed with her when she whined about Alec being trouble when she's known Alec for much longer than she's know her for, and she's done nothing for Alec. What a cop she is, she thinks.

Alec doesn't respond. "Will she be mad if you come home late?"

He sighs heavily. "She left last night," he states.

"What?"

"Left last night. Cut it off. She was seeing someone else while I was at work and Daisy was at school. Didn't like that I confronted her." He shrugs as if it's no big deal. Ellie's stomach twists in guilt. 

"I'm sorry," she says, quiet. "I... I never noticed and it's been months."

"Ain't your fault-"

"It's obvious now. It was and I should have noticed and I'm sorry I didn't-"

"Miller-"

"No." Ellie shakes her head and glares at him. "You listen to me. Because I am sorry. I either didn't notice or I ignored any red flags and then I accused _you_ of instigating violence as if I knew her better than I know you. You don't deserve any of that. You never did."

Alec shrugs heavily, looking conflicted. Tense. He doesn't like talking about it. "'s just my luck," he says. Ellie grimaces. He leaves one relationship and takes the blame of cheating when he was the victim of it, only to get into a new relationship and for it to happen again, and then some. And for Ellie to ignore it and leave him to deal with it by himself.

"It's not just your luck. You deserve better than that." Alec looks doubtful and she isn't sure she wants to know what he's thinking. "Much better. I know what kind of a man you are, and you're a man that deserves better. Much better."

Alec looks to his side and regards the waves. She wonders if he still has nightmares about Pippa and the river. 

He doesn't say anything. He looks conflicted, pained, his nails digging into the palms of his hands in his pockets, and if he were anyone other than Alec Hardy she would have reached out already to physically comfort him. Then she realises that it's been a damn long time since he was the man that stole her job and was a right wanker, and that he needs it, whether he knows it or not. So she stops their walk and pulls him into a hug, and he tenses for several long moments before allowing himself to relax slightly. He might not return the hug, but he closes his eyes and doesn't move away, rather letting his forehead rest on her shoulder and forces himself to breathe as steadily as he can. 

She knows he won't try and turn this into a case for some justice. She knows he'd probably lose the case anyway; with no evidence to prove his side of things, and it makes Ellie mad when she thinks about that, for she also knows Alec now and she knows that he's the kind of man that deserves better. 


End file.
